My U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,565 issued Jul. 27, 1999, discloses vented valve assembly for liquid containers with a resilient boot that connects the valve assembly to a liquid delivery tube. This resilient boot has a built-in check valve for preventing fluid leakage from the delivery tube when disengaged from the valve assembly. The boot check valve is a gravity check valve, which only seals when the boot is properly positioned relative the pull of gravity. Lastly, the boot is comprised of at least four separate parts.
My U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,863 issued Feb. 10, 1998, tube quick disconnector for tubing or conduits. This patent shows multiple pieced assemblies with an internal resilient female component, which is cumbersome to assemble and relatively expensive to manufacture. Also the valve means provided in the female component are gravity check valves that function in limited orientations and are impractical to manufacture.
It is desirable for a tube connector or coupling assembly that can be easily joined together and will automatically disconnect when a predetermined tension is applied to the adjoining tubing. Further, the male and female components of this tube connector must form a leak tight seal when they are coupled and prevent liquid leakage when they are uncoupled. Lastly, all these components must be inexpensive to manufacture.
As shown below, to meet these objectives, the female component of this coupling assembly is of an integral construction from resilient material with internal valve means and a leak tight connection to a tube and a male connector component. The valve means in many embodiments is a slit or multitude of slits formed into an internal closure or diaphragm. One end of the female component receives the male component and the opposite end receives a conduit or tube. The female component or boot is easily manufactured in an injection mold of resilient material. A secondary operation is required to cut at least one slit through the diaphragm.
Additionally shown below, the male component or nozzle contains valve means to prevent liquid leakage when the component parts are uncoupled and will make a leak tight seal when coupled with the boot. Nozzle embodiments are described that connect the nozzle with tubing or with container closures. The nozzles shown below are easily manufactured with plastic injection molds and contain a limited number of parts.
All the features of my coupling assembly components meet the objectives listed above. Other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will become apparent with reference to the following description and accompanying drawings.